Collapsible crate



1927' c. FLAGSTAD E 7 COLLAPSIBLE CRATE 4 Sheets-sheaf Filed Sept. 8.1924 gwwnto'm GOIFAIELLFZAGSMD w m A u 3 mw a a F x O w c. FLAGSTAD ETAL COLLAPSIBLE CRATE Feb. 23, 1921. 1,618,420

' Filed Sept.- 8. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 GOANELL FZaasmo 05cm? A. FLAGSTAD Feb. .22, 1927. 1,618,420

. c. FLAGSTAD ET AL COLLAPS IBLE CRATE Filed Sept. 8. 1924 4SheetsB-Sheet 4 I Qwuehto; CORNELL FZHGsTRD Oacnnf-l. flnesmo PatentedFeb. 22, 1927. 7, Q Q 7 UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE.

CORNELL FLAGSTAD A D OSCAR A. 'rLAGs'rAn, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, As-

SIGNORS or NINETY FIVE PER CENT TO THE FOLDING CRATE & BOX COMPANY, orMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A ooRroRArIoN or MINNESOTA.

COLLAPSIBLE CRATE.

Application filed September 8, 1924. Serial No. 736.535.

This invention relates to collapsible cartion of a crate illustrating amodification in riers and the main object is to provide a the bracingstructure. 7 simple, practical and efiicient crate in which Fig. '18 isa plan view of the member K side and end sections are hingedly secured 7shown in Fig. 17. g g

5 to a hollow base so as to be foldable there- F ig. 19 is asectionalelevation of the upinto, and in which a co'ver section hasmeans per portion of a crate showing a further 60 whereby it may bedetachably secured, modification in the bracing construction. either tothe vertical sections when the crate F ig. 20 is an enlarged detailsection V is setup, or to the base section when the through the crate,as on the line '2020 in crate is collapsed so as to lock all the partsFig. 19.

in a closely nested condition. A further Reference will now be made tothe draw- 65 bj t i t id means f a novel t r lngs by referencecharacters, like characters for hingedly securing and detachablyconreferring to like parts throughout the vanecting the various cratemembers. A furrious figures. Y

ther object is to provide improved means The crate consists primarily ofa shallow for bracing various objects within the crate. base A, having abottom 21 and an upsta d- 70 Still further and more specificrobjectswill 111g rim 22; a pair of end sections B, a pair be disclosed in thecourse of the following of side sections O, and acover D. The endspecification, reference being had to the acand side sections arehingedly secured tothe anyingdrawings, in which: base so as to befoldable'thereinto When the,

Fig. l is a side elevation of the crate. I or tels collapsed, and thecover section is 75 Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the crate. a g dn St d so that it may be shown in Fig. 1. r V o secured either tothevertical sections, when Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional viewvthe crate is s t up, or to' f as when the th lin 3 3 i Fi 2 crate iscollapsed. The construction thus Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailsectionalview f r scrlbed is also shown in a general way 80 on the lineH in Fig. 2. v 1n our Patent No. 1,485,973 which issued Fig. 5 is anenlarged perspectiveview of March 4th, 1924, fora folding box or crate,

. a preferred type of hinge which is used in and are thereforenot hereclaimed as being j the crate p l broadly 118W. g p

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View of one The end sections B consist ofvertical. 85 corner of ajcrate' showing a modification in slats 23 andhorizontal slats 24 and 25. The

1-the corner locking device. V fs1de sections G consist of verticalslats 26 Fig. 7 is a fractional detail View showa d orlzontal slats 27and 28; and the top ing a modification in. the device forloekingsection 1) CODSlStS, of longitudinal slats 29 th Cover ti 'i l 7 Vsecured totransverse slats 30, and braced by 00 Fig. 8 is a section onthe line 8-8 in diagonal slats 81. The loweifiends' of th Fi 7 evertical slats of the side and end sections are Fig. 9 is, an enlargedsection similar to secured to the base by hinges E, (see Figs.

40 Fig. 8, but showing a modification there- 1, Band 14), in such amanner that their i l 'pintles' will be ofiset, vertically, to permitMover.

Fig. 10' and Fig. 11 show further modi} the sectionsfto be folded intothe base, onefications of the cover locking device. on top-of the other.V: Fig. 12 isan enlarged'detail section on Each hinge member E, asshownin Fig.

the line 12 ,12 in Fig. '11. 5, consists of an angularly .formed sheetFig. 13 is a perspective detail view of a metal plate, in each legofwhich is inwardly Q f struck a channel portion 32-,- having pintle Fig.14 is asecti'onalelevation through'th'e perforations 33, -for' a pintleas 34. .Thecrate showingcertain bracingfeaturesf pintle may consistmerely of a nail whose] Y cornerlocking device.

7 Fig. 15 is an, enlarged detail section on pointed end is bent around,.as shown, to:

the line. 15-15 in Fig. 14. g V r p I I p I v p F ig.-16 isa perspectiveview of the mom-1 member. E of which two are of course used ber 73-74shown in section-i1i.Fig.-14. for each vertlcal section, consists of asub- Fig. 17 is an elevation of one corner porstantlally U-shaped strapiron member 'prevent it from falling out. The hinge f which is nailedover the lower end of the slat 26 (or 23), and is out out so that it mayoperate at the sides of the portion 32, a tongue being struck up to forma seat for theslat and to make the member E very rigid with the slat.

The means employed to detach-ably connect the side and end sectionstogether in set up position is shown in Figs. 2, 3 and t, and withmodifications in Figs. 6 and 13, and will now he described.

Referring first to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that a pair ofheavy wire flocking members F are rotatably mounted, one in eachoftheendscc-tions B, andare provided with hooks 36 at their ends adapted,towengage receivingbrackets 37 on the side sections C. The members Fare.alsoprorided Wlilll. V-shaped bail. portions 38, winch, when thehooks 36 are engaged in brackets 3:, are

substantially horizontal and lie directly under the cover 1). Thus itwill be seen that while the hooks 36 positiyely lock the crate cornersrigid they vannot be disengaged unless the bail portions 38 are swungup, and

T side and end sections, there is ofcourse nov necessity for. otherwiselocking those sections. against inward 1no\e1'11e11t' when the crate isset up. In the corner look modification shown in Fig. 13 a pair of hingebutts L2 are secured one on each section and are/connected bya.removablepin43, which may also'ot coin-so be held in place in a.releasable manner by the crate cover D.

The cover is. detachably secured in place by means, the preferred formof which illustrated in Figs. 1, E2, 3 and L, while modificationsthereof are illustrated in, Figs. 7 to 12, inclusive. In any eventoneend ot' the cover is provided with a pair of fixed. fingers l whichare arrai'iged to engage cor.

responding apertures in one end section. or i apertures 46 in one endofthe base. The other end of the crate cover is proVidedwith a retractablebolt G, arranged to releasahly engage in zipertnres L7 (or, etS) in theopposite end of the crate.

The bolt G (F igs, 2, 3) is slidably secured in the member 29, andisoffsetso as toconceal a compression sprint, i8 between itself and themember 30. i The top offlthe bolt is flush with the slat 29, but thelatter has a depression ttlso that the finger may he used (as shown indotted lines in Fig. to withdraw the bolt from the end section. The beltG (Figs. '2 and, 8) is slidahly nunmted in the cover, and has aconvenient finger lip 50. The spring 51, in this case, merely engagesthe bolt to 'lrictionally hold it in either open or closed position. Thebolt i (Fig. 9) also has a friction spring 553, but a leaflHiTOI'POSQCl. between the n'ieniber :i and 52-, and has a lip to engagethe rear end of the bolt in such a manner that the lip must be depressedbefore the bolt can be pulledbaclr. The bolt cl (Fig. 10) is slidablysecured between the menlbers 29--30,

and has an integral linger {at which carries the spring which reactswith small shoulders 56 to holdiho bolt extended. The bolt (-i (liig's.11 and IE2) whicltis releasably held in its extended p y tion by a hingelilie dcyice 57-58. The 1neniher 58 is rigidly secured tothe slat 29,while] the member 57 swings from the member 58 and is spring actuatedina direction to hold l' t hen the the bolt t-i extended orloched.member 571s manually raised the bolt nniy "-1 an L-shaped meniljer beretracted to release. the cover, and it with drawn far enough may holdthe member 57 back adjacent to the member 58, as

indicated by dotted lines inFig. 12.

The crate may of course be used fonany however, it has been especiallydesigned for purpose desired. In the present instance,

the purpose of shippingautomobile radia tors, andwith this end.in \"iewvarious means are shown for rigidly securing the radiators\VlilllilLlLhB crate in suclra na nier thatfthcy willnot only be firmiyretained in place ,.but may easily andquiclily be secured.inttlie cratewithout the use otnails, b ltsorsuch sin'nlar derlces as are ordinarllynsedia non-collapsible shippin carriers.

The crate shown in F15" l and oi the well known Ford type. Theseradiators, when detached from tliofcar, are li'il vided with a pair ofblochs ill, and the cralri is further provided wltlr a pair of co-ocris. equipped to receive two radiators Ill andd ating strips which areoll'set from the blocks 61 so that the radiator can be mored alrg'ularlywith the flanges fiflinto bracing positions between the members 61--62,as SllQWIl lll F 1g. 1. The memhersGQ have in clined faces 63 sot-lnrtwhenthe radiator. II.

is lifted out the lips (30 will not positively stop against 62- and bebruised orbrolzen.

butwill move the radiator slightlyforward so that it can be clear 1 Theradiators and J are reversed, as s ownin Fig. 1, and

are held apart by a pair of blocks (let. The

place it will obviously prevent any Vertical l movements of theradiators in the crate, while the stops 61, 62, 65 and 66 will preventany longitudinal play. a

In the modification shown in Figs. 17 and 18 the above mentioned stopsare substituted by pairs of strips 67 which are rigidly secured to theside sections. These strips are spaced apart to form a channel toslidably receive the radiator members 59, 60 A spacing member K is nowemployed and consists of a transverse slat 68, which is utilized tospacethe radiators from each other, and a pair of depending legs 69, whichdrop between the members 59 and 67 to hold the slat 68 in an uprightposition and also to brace or make more rigid the lower radiator.

In Figs. 14, 15 and 16 further modifications in the spacing andhorizontal bracing.

are illustrated. Thus, 7 O designates a partly channeled slat, two ofwhich support a transverse brace 71, on which is supported one end ofthe radiator. may be supported on a somewhat similar brace 72, whichguides between strips 73,

and is preferably provided with face plates 7 1 which give a greaterbearing surface on the crates and thus prevent injury to the honeycombtubes of the radiator.

In larger types of crates it is often d-esirable to set the radiators upvertically in the crate, and in this eventit is also necessary to spacethem from each other to prevent injury. This spacing may be accomplishedmerely by a series of cross slats 75 slidably retained between guides 76(Fig. 14). A further improved method, however,

is shown in Figs. 19 and 20, and consists in spacing the slats 75,horizontally, by blocks 77, so that the horizontal pressure from eachradiator will not be imparted. to the radiators in front or behind it,but will be taken up directly by the crate. In this event also, it isdesirable tospring hinge one of the upper guide members 76 as at 78, sothat the strips 75 may beconveniently withdrawn or inserted, by raisingthe member 76 as indicated by; dotted lines in Fig. 20.

It is understood that various modifica- The other end.

' I In testimony natures.

lapsed, a detachable cover, means for releasably securing the side andend sections together when in a set up position, said means comprisingmembers turnably carried by opposite of said sections for lockingengagement with the other of said sections at the corners of'the crate,and means operative by placing the cover in position upon the crate forlocking said securing means by engaging said members to prevent themfrom turning.

' 2. The combination with a crate having a base and side and endsectionshingedly secured thereto, of corner locking devices forreleasably locking the side and end sections together in set uppositions, said devices being each rotatably secured and releasable byupward swinging movements of certain parts thereof,a cover adapted to bedetachably secured upon the crate, said cover being downwardlyengageable against said locking devices to prevent such upward swingingmovements of said parts while the cover is in position.

3. The combination with a folding crate having a hollow base andinwardly folding side and end sections, of right angularly shaped hingeplates secured in each corner of the base as a brace therefore, each legof said hinge plates having an inwardly struck channel portion havingtransversely 7 arranged pintle holes, the holes'in the respectivechannel portions being offset vertically.

whereof we affix our sig- CORNELL FLAGSTAD. OSCAR A. FLAGSTAD.

